5.14 - The Greater Good
THE TEAM TREATS A FORMER DOCTOR WHO GAVE UP HER CAREER IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ON "HOUSE" MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, ON FOX 100th Episode Milestone House and the team take on the case of a woman who collapsed in the middle of a cooking class, and they soon learn she is a highly-renowned cancer researcher who recently gave up her entire career in order to pursue her own personal happiness. Though the team struggles to understand how the woman could give up saving lives for the sake of her own contentment, each grapple with the pursuit of happiness (or lack thereof) in their own lives. As the patient's condition continues to worsen, so does Thirteen's as she begins to suffer serious and life-threatening reactions to the experimental Huntington's Disease clinical trial. Meanwhile, Cuddy attempts to make House's life miserable for him in retaliation for his part in her own unhappiness in "The Greater Good" episode of HOUSE airing Monday, Feb. 2 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/ PT) on FOX. (HOU-514) (TV-14 D) Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Kal Penn as Dr. Lawrence Kutner; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen Guest Cast: Judith Scott as Dana Miller; Jennifer Crystal Foley as Rachel Taub; David Purdham as Chef Anthony; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse

Wow, this episode hit me on so many different personal levels (job satisfaction/personal happiness musings, not having kids discussion, etc.) Mercury Retrograde shoutout!!!!!!!!! The mods have a private joke about Mercury Retrograde, so I shrieked when House said that. :-) We got to see Blue the Janitor! The continuity dieties have smiled on us! I thought Cuddy's pranking was cruel and obnoxious. I found it infuriating that she thought physically hurting him was appropriate. I don't think he's ever done anything that hurt her physically, has he? I mean, yes, he's an arse and hurts her feelings, etc. but she's vicious when she goes after him. Laxatives, tripwires, etc. Not cool. And I appreciated that Wilson confronted her about it. The only good thing about it is we got to see HL's calf muscles. 13 made alot of sense when she called Foreman on his risking his medical license when they had only been dating for 2 weeks. Thank you, 13. That bothered me too. I love Taub so much. His line about House/Foreman/Thirteen made me laugh out loud. He had quite a few good lines tonight. Wilson is looking mighty fine these days. "I don't know how to get unstuck" "The only wrong thing is to do nothing" Oh that scene just broke my heart. Kutner is really getting to be the conscience/heart of the team, but not in an annoying way. He's a neat combination of pragmatic & idealistic.

So Wilson washed the mug! Way to go! He has taken his first step in moving on! Now move out of that apartment, please. :D

Hmmm. Ditto what fffaw said. The pranking was cruel. As a doctor, she should know better than to injure someone who's in constant pain to begin with. And can I just say I love Wilson?

OMG! I have the disease of the week!!! Only not so severe: my nose just gushes blood :D I continue to really like Taub and his wife. I always like 'concerned' House. Nice episode.

Hugh did a great job conveying pain in the scene with the stairs. Not that I had much before, but I just don't have any respect for Cuddy now. I wanted to throw something at my TV when 13 declared that she couldn't see. I can't take 13 and her 81 bazillion plot points anymore! OW sucks as an actress, even with the drama of blindness. When Wilson told the POTW that she was dying my only thought was "Why can't 13 have mesothelioma?!" And is the explanation House gave for the problem even possible? It sounds like something from sci-fi. It SUCKS that Chase and Cameron weren't in the 100th episode, but DS was right--the episode was nothing special. The best part was the story that centered on Wilson and it's kind of sad that he's alone in his grief. Kutner was a testy little thing again tonight, wasn't he? Mercury Retrograde shoutout!!!!!!!!! The mods have a private joke about Mercury Retrograde, so I shrieked when House said that. FOR THE WIN! I thought, "How'd they access our board?" LOL

For me, this was the first episode in which Olivia Wilde knocked it out of the park. She hit all the emotions just right. And, not coincidentally, it was the first episode where I almost gave a damn about Thirteen. Is there anything more obnoxious than someone doing something they knew was wrong and then blaming you -- "I did it for you." She was absolutely right to call Foreman on that. I can't believe she's still seeing him. The worst period in history, although not by much. HA! I blinked. What did House steal from a locker?

I can see why Cuddy did the pranking -- seems there are no other professional means of punishment left, but I think she took it a bit far. Not my favorite Cuddy moment tonight. Wilson was made of awesome. As were Taub and Kutner. The Foreman/Thirteen stuff was intense. Not that I didn't know she was going to be fine, but it was intense. In his own way, House is incredibly supportive of this relationship. I wonder where he sees the parallels. How fast they're moving after two weeks reminds me of House and Stacy. On the other hand, I can write an essay on how Thirteen/Foreman sort of = House/Cuddy. Oh, and I completely didn't realize until after the episode that Chase and Cameron weren't there. Not that that's a good thing, but I just didn't notice. All in all, a pretty strong episode. Very thought-provoking.

OMG! I have the disease of the week!!! Only not so severe: my nose just gushes blood Argh. My sympathies. After having had two surgeries in 15 months for severe endo, the diagnosis seriously freaked me out. ::shudder::

I liked everything except Cuddy this week. Not surprised - everytime she's sympathetic, she wrecks it within the next episode. I'm very happy with the Wilson stuff. I always thought it was unhealthy for him to be living in his dead girlfriend's apartment (much as I love that apartment, and Amber). I hope that means there's a "second make up" between Wilson and House. It just seems to follow. I've been sucked into 14 somehow. Don't know how that happened. Maybe Foreman's frequent nakedness? Season 5's back on track, thank god.

Poor Wilson. I loved that House was a step ahead of Foreman and Thirteen the whole time -- in diagnosing both personal and medical issues. Once again, I think they're hitting their stride in terms of finding ways to wind all of these issues together, so that what seemed disjointed is becoming tightly wrapped. There were questions of personal happiness and professional fulfillment from so many different levels (and interesting that Thirteen was merely the tool with which to explore Foreman's issues related to his previous drive to succeed at all costs with this new found emotional level that's thrown him off track). Kutner has it right, obviously, that you need to find the balance, and he does seem to have more equilibrium than anyone else, able to find joy in so many small things and save lives (while finding joy in that as well). Cuddy taking out her frustrations on House were obviously over the top -- and intended to be -- as she tries to rebalance her life. Good on Wilson on calling her on it. House stealing cash from random lockers falls into the realm of things that seem perfectly in character for him to do on one level, yet surprising me with how far he'll stoop just to amuse himself (though really, lock your lockers, people). I've been sucked into 14 somehow. Don't know how that happened. Maybe Foreman's frequent nakedness? Ah, Omar Epps. A definite benefit.

Cash from someone's wallet. Now that seems low, even for House.

I read that elusive spoiler, so I knew most ofwhat was going to happen, but I really, really liked it. The third best of the season, behind Birthmarks and DCE. The 13 and 14 storyline was not half as bad as I thought it would be. Actually it was almost good. And for the first time, I liked 13 a lot in this episode. And Wilson, gosh, I almost don't know what to say. He was beyond awesome, the scenes with the POTW were amazing. By the way, I loved the POTW. But I was surprised despite all the spoilers, that he washed Amber's cup, that really wasn't what I was expecting. I really hope they follow through next week. Still, I am so glad the TPTB didn't forget about Amber, and that he didn't forget about Amber like he was acting since Birthmarks. It really did make sense that he would finally open up to the POTW, and not to House or Cuddy. But definitely among the best of the season, so far.